The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Track and Field signee Schmidt captures decathlon at USA Junior Championships
06.22.2006 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
INDIANAPOLIS -- University of Texas incoming freshman Shawn Schmidt (Plano, Texas/St. Mark's School of Texas) opened up a sizable lead and held on for victory to claim the men's decathlon title at the 2006 Finish Line Junior USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium.
Schmidt, who held a 57-point lead over Wake Forest's Brent LaRue after Wednesday's opening day of competition, captured the decathlon with 7,264 points. He opened up a margin of over 200 points after the pole vault and held on for the win with a javelin toss of 153-0 (46.64m) and a time of 4:57.89 in the 1500 meters. Schmidt claimed the shot put (49-3.75 - 15.03m) and high jump (6-7 - 2.01m) on the first day of competition.
Schmidt defeated eight decathletes with one year of collegiate competition to their credit. This fall, he will join two of the nation's top multi-event athletes in senior Trey Hardee (Birmingham, Ala.), who has one season of indoor eligibility remaining, and senior-to-be Donovan Kilmartin (Eagle, Idaho) on the Longhorns' roster.
Hardee will begin the decathlon competition on Friday at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning at 9:30 a.m. CDT in Indianapolis.
